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Historica Arcanum #2
Empires of the Silk Road
Empires of the Silk Road is a massive sourcebook for the world of Historica Arcanum, that takes the players in a journey through the legendary Silk Road of the 13th Century.
Explore the legendary cities of the region; from the Necropolis of Samarkand to the House of Wisdom of Baghdad, from the Assassin Stronghold Alamut to the Imperial Seat of Power, Isfahan. Uncover arcane secrets and political conspiracies, mythical creatures and deep-dives into the cultures of Silk Road.
With this sourcebook, you'll get everything you need to explore this legendary historical region and prepare a massive campaign, or add to your homebrew games.
This sourcebook also includes city maps, creatures, quest hooks, weapons and relics. Discover new ways to travel across the land using our unique Overhauled Land Travel; and fend off contagions that are more than just inconveniences with the Plague System. The sourcebook also features an expanded character and backstory builder, 12 new subclasses, and 6 new professions for 5th edition.
Explore the legendary cities of the region; from the Necropolis of Samarkand to the House of Wisdom of Baghdad, from the Assassin Stronghold Alamut to the Imperial Seat of Power, Isfahan. Uncover arcane secrets and political conspiracies, mythical creatures and deep-dives into the cultures of Silk Road.
With this sourcebook, you'll get everything you need to explore this legendary historical region and prepare a massive campaign, or add to your homebrew games.
This sourcebook also includes city maps, creatures, quest hooks, weapons and relics. Discover new ways to travel across the land using our unique Overhauled Land Travel; and fend off contagions that are more than just inconveniences with the Plague System. The sourcebook also features an expanded character and backstory builder, 12 new subclasses, and 6 new professions for 5th edition.
- GenresFantasy
Paperback
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December 1, 2023
This is the second installment of Historia Arcanum (historical settings and adaptations for 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons). The first book of the series was set in 19th Century Istanbul; this is in the same world, but in the Middle East and Central Asia of the 13th Century (loosely along the Silk Road) at the time when Mongols were invading (with varying degrees of success) the lands of Islam. Many of the rule modifications are the same, but with new subclass options, spells, feats, backgrounds, and magic items specific to the period and region.
While not being specifically “magic poor,” the world of Historica Arcanum is one in which magic carries with it many risks (warping reality, damaging the caster, creating monsters, etc.), and is dangerous and often illegal. The various nonhuman races from D&D can be played but need to keep their true natures secret (The books give various disguise options). As a result, the world here is, on the surface, the same as in our real history (allowing for some slight modifications, mostly moving historical figures and events slightly to advance the plot*), but beneath that, there have always been magic and monsters, often moving things behind the scenes. I’m a big fan of the” secret history” type of RPGs, and the Historica Arcanum books are some of the best. In addition to player modifications, EMPIRES OF THE SILK ROAD describes the immediate history and current events of the region, as well as the various kingdoms, cultures, cities (specifically Samarkand, Isfahan, Merv, and Baghdad), local governments, laws and mores, travel, and period weapons and armor. Included are also specific encounters and adventure ideas. The invading Mongols are an important factor throughout the region, with some cities conquered or destroyed, others independent, and large numbers of refugees fleeing the destruction (with the attendant social and economic effects). For readers who want more detailed information about specific aspects of the period, a historical reading list is included. I like this because it keeps the book from becoming too bloated with historic details that you can get elsewhere. The creators (who are Turkish, by the way) do an excellent job of treating the various religions of the period sensitively while not sugar-coating the potential conflicts between them.
As with CITY OF CRESCENT, this book also includes optional Profession rules (separate from D&D classes), with different skills, goals, and advancement. Professions here are Grave Robber, Tinker, Beast Tamer, Smuggler, Ecclesiastic, and Merchant. By nature of the setting, adventures in EMPIRES OF THE SILK ROAD are likely to include a lot of travel, so the creators added a modified system for overland travel and pursuit, as well as abbreviated combat between larger groups. The Plague and Disease Module looks interesting and would definitely give a realistic feel to the game but is not for the faint of heart (the potential exists to become permanently disfigured (smallpox or leprosy), lose a limb to infected wounds, or just shit yourself to death (the bloody flux).
Some nice additional touches to the book are a downloadable soundtrack and a section on storytellers and various tales.
Also, kudos to the authors for radically shrinking the typeface of the section where they thank all the Kickstarter contributors by name. I felt that (in a larger typeface) that took up too many pages in CITY OF CRESCENT, and I make that statement from the position as one of those contributors.
This review is written with the caveat that I have not actually playtested these game modifications, so, if some of these rules require adjustment, that’s on you. Also, I have not yet read the second book of this setting, THE HERAND OF RAIN, which is a massive (200+ page) adventure module. I will update after I finish it.
The book is beautiful, well laid out and illustrated with minimal typos. The English is excellent with my only criticism being about occasional specific word choices. In some cases, while the words are not TECHNICALLY incorrect, they give the impression that probably wasn’t what the authors were trying for. But even in those cases, the reader can usually pick up the correct meaning from context. Short form, don’t get too wedded to the specific terminology if it seems weird to you. Other than that, my only complaints are that I would have preferred more details about the monsters (other than specific stats, all that is included on each creature is an illustration and a descriptive paragraph or two) and the humorous asides that were (for some reason) added in the last section, which just seemed weird and didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the text.
In short solid 4 stars.
*see “The Lies We Told” section.
While not being specifically “magic poor,” the world of Historica Arcanum is one in which magic carries with it many risks (warping reality, damaging the caster, creating monsters, etc.), and is dangerous and often illegal. The various nonhuman races from D&D can be played but need to keep their true natures secret (The books give various disguise options). As a result, the world here is, on the surface, the same as in our real history (allowing for some slight modifications, mostly moving historical figures and events slightly to advance the plot*), but beneath that, there have always been magic and monsters, often moving things behind the scenes. I’m a big fan of the” secret history” type of RPGs, and the Historica Arcanum books are some of the best. In addition to player modifications, EMPIRES OF THE SILK ROAD describes the immediate history and current events of the region, as well as the various kingdoms, cultures, cities (specifically Samarkand, Isfahan, Merv, and Baghdad), local governments, laws and mores, travel, and period weapons and armor. Included are also specific encounters and adventure ideas. The invading Mongols are an important factor throughout the region, with some cities conquered or destroyed, others independent, and large numbers of refugees fleeing the destruction (with the attendant social and economic effects). For readers who want more detailed information about specific aspects of the period, a historical reading list is included. I like this because it keeps the book from becoming too bloated with historic details that you can get elsewhere. The creators (who are Turkish, by the way) do an excellent job of treating the various religions of the period sensitively while not sugar-coating the potential conflicts between them.
As with CITY OF CRESCENT, this book also includes optional Profession rules (separate from D&D classes), with different skills, goals, and advancement. Professions here are Grave Robber, Tinker, Beast Tamer, Smuggler, Ecclesiastic, and Merchant. By nature of the setting, adventures in EMPIRES OF THE SILK ROAD are likely to include a lot of travel, so the creators added a modified system for overland travel and pursuit, as well as abbreviated combat between larger groups. The Plague and Disease Module looks interesting and would definitely give a realistic feel to the game but is not for the faint of heart (the potential exists to become permanently disfigured (smallpox or leprosy), lose a limb to infected wounds, or just shit yourself to death (the bloody flux).
Some nice additional touches to the book are a downloadable soundtrack and a section on storytellers and various tales.
Also, kudos to the authors for radically shrinking the typeface of the section where they thank all the Kickstarter contributors by name. I felt that (in a larger typeface) that took up too many pages in CITY OF CRESCENT, and I make that statement from the position as one of those contributors.
This review is written with the caveat that I have not actually playtested these game modifications, so, if some of these rules require adjustment, that’s on you. Also, I have not yet read the second book of this setting, THE HERAND OF RAIN, which is a massive (200+ page) adventure module. I will update after I finish it.
The book is beautiful, well laid out and illustrated with minimal typos. The English is excellent with my only criticism being about occasional specific word choices. In some cases, while the words are not TECHNICALLY incorrect, they give the impression that probably wasn’t what the authors were trying for. But even in those cases, the reader can usually pick up the correct meaning from context. Short form, don’t get too wedded to the specific terminology if it seems weird to you. Other than that, my only complaints are that I would have preferred more details about the monsters (other than specific stats, all that is included on each creature is an illustration and a descriptive paragraph or two) and the humorous asides that were (for some reason) added in the last section, which just seemed weird and didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the text.
In short solid 4 stars.
*see “The Lies We Told” section.
Displaying 1 of 1 review